from finnish to start (again and again)

I started this blog to document my 3 month stay in beautiful Helsinki in the first half of 2011. But now that I've made my glorious return to the big apple, be on the lookout for random musings about my love/hate relationship with nyc, lots of photos, and just snippets of everyday life. (all pics by me, unless stated otherwise...)

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File this under beautiful videos!! 

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How Jhumpa Lahiri Learned to Write Again

Jhumpa Lahiri decided to learn Italian. Then she moved to Rome and stopped writing in English altogether. Her new memoir, ‘In Other Words,’ is an account of that linguistic pilgrimage—and her newfound freedom.

Great interview with author Jhumpa Lahiri, who moved to Italy for 3 years to study the language and ultimately write her memoir, in Italian!

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The man who cycled from India to Europe for love - BBC News

The story of PK Mahanandia who cycled on the hippie trail from India to Europe in 1977 to be reunited with his wife.

What a beautiful story! 

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Links I Dig This Week

Throughout the history of monumental architecture, domes have been built as symbols of spiritual aspiration, political power, and civic pride. Inspired by classical examples like the Pantheon, Brunelleschi created for Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence a vault of unparalleled magnificence. With its vast interior, Brunelleschi’s masterpiece remains to this day the world’s largest masonry dome  link

Hey, here's a list of awesome podcasts, because podcast binging is the new thing :D but I love streaming these while commuting, or cleaning, or cooking list

So I've been trying to learn Spanish on and off now for some time now, through the help of a  pretty awesome app: Duolingo! But the NYT the other had a list of few others that seems pretty rad as well, and that I plan to check out! Happy learning

On to some bad news...There’s a 30% chance your shrimp isn’t what you think it is. Yep, can't really trust those labels, and forget about trusting restaurants. link

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Links I Dig This Week

What I know at 29. link

Meanwhile in Russia. A look at heroin doers/addicts talking about their dreams and aspirations link

Secrets of the Creative Brain link

While we're on the topic of secrets, some fun secrets about NYC link Pretty cool to live in a town for 16 somewhat years and still not know about some of these hidden marvelous spots. But then again this is NYC, theres way too many nooks and crannies to begin with.

Lovely tutorial on how to make an awesome-looking tissue paper crown. Because.. why not? link

Rejoice! A new way to cut an orange! link

Interesting findings by the department of labor on the correlation between race and your pay grade link

Megalodons are the largest predatory shark to ever live. They got extincted some time long ago (it is widely believed). A recent study connects the period of their extinction to the evolution of another mammal, the filter feeder whales. Cause and effect? This scientist thinks so!

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Links I Dag Last Week

Great introspective / storytelling. Nightshift Excerpts From An Instagram Essay link

I'm a bit late to the party with this, but worth sharing over and over. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TedX speech about being a feminist and, having no qualms or apologies about. Important, so important, for men to hear as well as women link

In celebration of women , here are six stories about women who travel alone. Pretty awesome reads. link

And in keeping with the travel theme (mostly because I've got travel in my mind and heart recently) here's another awesome read. The Art of Arrival: Rebecca Solnit on Travel and Friendship. link

[fernsandmoss]

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Lucienne Bloch, Frida biting her necklace, New York, 1933

“We went to a Spanish restaurant and had a kind of strong stuff like Vodka which one drinks with lemon and salt. We acted most crazy. It was a fine afternoon and cheered Frida up.”

oh Frida <3

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Links I dig this week

You can’t be as “happy as a clam.” Clams don’t have emotions, and they have little to be happy about. Explanation here

Astronomers have just added one more layer to the Earth's celestial address. You can now find us at: Planet Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster, Laniakea Galactic Supercluster.. So cool link

John Oliver Wants to Know: How Is Miss America Still a Thing? Please watch link

Wanna know how tattooing works... here's a slow-motion video. Very cool. link

This woman is SO bad ass!!! Read this! The Woman Who Walked 10,000 Miles (No Exaggeration) in Three Years. link

These personal tales from the edge of life link

This is one of those links that are hardest to share and click on, and read, read to the end, but those are the most important. This is a feature on death. Powerful portraits of individuals before and directly after their death and their last thought on death and living. link

This is strange... and cool! John Malkovich you see, has gone ahead and recreated some pretty iconic, and universally recognizable portraits. Go 'head and take a look, you'll be laughing and feel creeped-out at the same time link

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Links I dig this week

25 Famous Women on Childlessness here

This album is beautiful. Playing on repeat. 

Clive James, a writer, who is also terminally ill wrote a gentle beautiful poem about dying and knowing that the end is near, and how his final wish is to just "live to see" the maple tree's leaves turn red. Showcased in this week's New Yorker Japanese Maple

Did you know, that Oscar Wilde’s last words were “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or other of us has got to go.” link

A very good argument against tipping worth understanding and discussing. Does tipping actually just encourage restaurants to pay service workers the minimum they can get away with? link

Condom-less male birth control may be available as early as 2017. Cheers to more gender equality when it comes to family planning link

Speaking of gender equality. Report: Most Men Still Out-Earn Most Women link 

How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking and Give a Great Presentation link

Which Cities Sleep in, and Which Get to Work Early (spoiler: New Yorkers get to work late.) link

Gwynn Guilford on how climate change will affect the wines we drink. “By mid-century, more than four-fifths of the land in France, Italy, and Spain that’s now used for vineyards will be producing grapes unsuited for wine, according to a 2013 study. Australia stands to lose up to three-quarters of its currently viable vineyard land; California’s looking at a 70% decline.” link

[personal favorite pet peeve] Stop telling women to smile campaign. link

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Have you ever heard of the Paleo diet... yeah, me neither. And if you have, why didn't you tell me..it's an interesting concept/theory/logic. 

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amazing video .. amazing message. 

"if you have an art that needs a practice, stop neglecting it"

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Just sent a postcard

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this bike has saved me one too many times

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Just sent a postcard

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Just sent a postcard

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